by Julia Derek
“She actually said ‘so you would know where to take her’?”
“Not verbatim, but a version of that.”
“Wow. That’s quite aggressive.” Not that I should be very surprised. Ariel might be petite, but that had never stopped her from boldly going after whatever she wanted. “And presumptuous. Well, now I don’t feel so bad for her any longer. She should just have asked you if you wanted to go out again.”
“Agreed.” He finished his jacks. “What’s next?”
“Let’s do some deadlifts.” I pointed to another corner of the big gym floor where several barbells were lined up. We went over there and grabbed one that weighed 120 pounds. Ian began squatting while holding the heavy barbell with both hands.
“So I’m thinking I’ll pick one of the places she suggested,” he said, “and hopefully I’ll get her to open up a little before I tell her about my ex. Find out what the deal with the senator is.” He lowered his voice. “Incidentally, what other government officials do you have for me...?”
I had completely forgotten about going through the rest of the club’s members for Ian like I had promised. It had been easy to forget; I really didn’t see the point in me spending more hours combing through Nikkei’s database. I’d just about had it with his obsessive conspiracy theories. There simply wasn’t enough conclusive evidence there was a conspiracy of any kind and his delusions were seriously holding me back in my own investigation. One day I’d tell him he needed to snap out of it. Get some help if they were remnants of his days as a drug addict. In the meantime, I’d pretend like I had gone through the rest of the database. It wasn’t like he could verify that I hadn’t.
“I didn’t find anyone else,” I said, not meeting his gaze in the mirrored wall before us that we were both looking into. “Unless there are ones I’m not familiar with, Eastwood and Chatterly are it. Since I know most of the big names, I don’t think I missed any. I spent three hours this morning looking.”
“I see,” he replied curtly and finished his set of deadlifts. “Well, thanks for checking.”
I turned away from him so he wouldn’t see how my cheeks were flaming. Spotting a water faucet a few feet away, I excused myself and said I’d be right back. I took my time drinking water. When I was with him again, my face had returned to normal temperature.
***
Ariel was sitting in the cafeteria when I went down there to have lunch the following Thursday. She waved to me the second I entered. I smiled and walked up to her. There was a big grin on her lips.
“Hey,” I said and smiled. “You look happy.”
“I am. Ian and I are going out again tonight.”
“You are? That’s fantastic.” Knowing that she’d been the one to make the next date happen, I felt weird adding something along the lines of “I told you he was seriously interested.” Instead I just asked, “Where are you guys going?”
“To La Bonne Soup in the West Village. I’ve always wanted to go there. Great French restaurant. So cute.”
“Did Ian pick that place?”
Ariel shook her head. “No, I did. I had a few places in mind that I wanted to try out and he went along with it.”
“Good for you.” Making sure my tone was light, I asked, “Have you guys been in touch a lot?”
“Yeah, but only via text. We text all day long!” Her brown eyes glittered excitedly.
“Really? That’s great.” I nodded toward the food counter. “I’m starving. I’m gonna get something to eat. I hope you guys have fun tonight.”
I walked over to the food counter and placed myself behind the last person in line. The cafeteria was hopping with people as it so often did around noon. I found my phone and texted Ian: Just bumped into Ariel. She told me you guys text all day long and that you’re going out tonite.
It took until I had ordered a salad and was about to pay for it for Ian to respond.
SHE is texting me all day long. I’m only responding and trying to be polite. Am anticipating a tough night tonight.
I gazed over at the table where I’d seen Ariel. She was still seated there, in the middle of texting someone. I paid for my salad and went back there.
“Hey again,” I said. “Mind if I join you?”
She looked up from her phone. “No, not at all. Please do.” There was a dreamy look on her face. “I just exchanged another text with Ian. He’s so sweet.”
I sat down next to her. “What did he say?”
She leaned into me. “Let me show you all his texts.”
“Okay,” I said and looked down at the iPhone with the yellow shell in her hand. She used fingers that had hot pink nail polish today to click the phone’s text icon.
A long string of texts appeared on the screen and, based on the length of them, there was no question Ariel was the one who spent the most time typing out messages. Most of Ian’s texts were a couple of words or a short sentence, whereas hers were long paragraphs. This alone should have given her a hint that maybe she was more invested in this budding non-romance than he was. But the way she was giggling and pointing at the different short texts he had sent her in response to hers—that I quickly scanned to make sure she was in fact the driving force—told me she clearly had no clue.
“Yes, he sure is sweet,” I said after I had read a few texts and began eating my salad, regretting that I hadn’t gotten a bigger one. I really was starving and doubted that the puny thing before me would do much to tame my hunger. “Did you just text him?”
“Uh-huh. I told him I can’t wait for it to become evening so we can see each other again.”
“Oh.” I wanted to tell her that maybe it was best if she cooled it a bit for now, but decided against it. I honestly wasn’t sure she could handle it as lovestruck as she appeared. I looked at her, sincerely confused. Was it possible that she had actually fallen in love with Ian that quickly? One thing was clear—she was definitely in lust with him. Ian was right; he’d have a tough time letting her down gently. I prayed their going out again would be worth it, lead to us finding out what was going on between Ariel and her client, the senator.
Sighing inwardly, I smiled at her. “Well, I hope you’ll have a great time.”
***
I couldn’t see Ariel anywhere at the club the following day and I was there from eight in the morning till seven at night. During weekdays, I usually spotted her at least once during all those hours. Had her date with Ian gone so well that he changed his mind about her, leading to the two of them ending up in bed together? Ian and I were supposed to have trained at noon today, but he texted me to cancel his session a couple of hours before, claiming he wasn’t feeling well and that he would get back to me to set up our next session.
It was only as I got back home and turned on the local news that I found out why I hadn’t gotten a glimpse of Ariel all day—she was dead. She’d been found strangled in an alley in midtown last night.
I dropped the wallet I’d removed from my bag to the floor I was so shocked when I heard the anchor say her name, followed by her photo appearing on the screen.
Oh, my God.
I sank down on my coffee table and listened to what the anchor was reporting about the crime: “…there are no signs of sexual abuse. The woman’s wallet contained credit cards and cash and she wore diamond studs in her ears when she was discovered, so the assault doesn’t appear to have been motivated by robbery. She is believed to have died before midnight. The NYPD is investigating the matter.”
I got to my feet and ran over to where I’d put my purse that contained my phone. As soon as I found it, I called Ian. He picked up on the fourth ring, sounding groggy, like he had been sleeping.
“Hello?” he mumbled.
“Did you hear what happened?” I asked, my voice frantic.
“No, what?”
“Ariel was found strangled in an alley in midtown.”
“What?” There was some rustling at the other end of the line. “She’s dead?”
“Yes. I j
ust heard it on the local news.”
“Bloody hell.”
“Bloody hell, that’s what I’m saying. What happened during your date? When did it end?”
He cleared his throat. “Slightly before eleven. It went well. I found out all kinds of interesting information about her and the senator. Things that will shock you.”
“Really? Why didn’t you call me to tell me about it?”
“I was planning on telling you when I saw you for our session today, but when I woke up I was sick. Food poisoning most likely.” He huffed. “I should have known that would happen when I saw the C rating at the restaurant. They kept the sign hidden.”
“I’m sorry. Food poisoning sucks.”
“It sure does, but I’m much better now. Sleeping most of the day helped.”
“Good. So what did you find out?”
“Among other things, that both Ariel and the senator are part of the conspiracy, exactly like I suggested. They wanted Ariel to spy on us, find out what we were up to by becoming friends with you and date me. Essentially keep tabs over our every move. She told Janine Eastwood that she didn’t think I was that interested in dating her and that’s why Janine grabbed her and shook her. From what I understand, the senator has a bad temper.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “You’re kidding me, right? So now Ariel is—well, was—part of this so-called conspiracy?”
“That’s what she told me and, as I’m sure you understand, she has no reason to lie about such a thing.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t argue with that point. Still, I wasn’t about to concede it either. Especially since Ian had lots of reasons of lie about it. “Do you think Janine has anything to do with her death?” I asked instead.
“Probably. Did they say it seems like a robbery?”
“No, and not like a sexual assault either.”
Ian tskd. “Incredible. They’re not even trying to make it seem like something else. I’m not sure Janine herself had something to do with the assault, but surely it’s someone involved with Adler and the others. Maybe they used a professional hit man.”
“But why would they have her killed? That’s pretty drastic.”
“Because she wanted out. She wanted to help me destroy what they were creating. After our first date, she had a change of heart.” Ian sighed heavily. “The poor thing really had a huge crush on me. It wasn’t easy having to tell her I was getting back with my ex. All things considered, she took it pretty well, though.”
“Really? So she actually told you she wanted to help you destroy… what they were creating?” I had a hard time saying these things in a straight voice I thought it was all so preposterous. “How did you get on that subject in the first place?”
“She broke apart when I began asking her about Janine. Why Janine had shook her the way you described. Suddenly everything came pouring out of her. We should meet up somewhere so I can give you more details.”
I checked the time. It was only eight. “Okay, let’s have dinner somewhere. I haven’t eaten yet, though after hearing about Ariel, I kinda lost my appetite. Is there any way you can bring the police reports filed about her case? There should be some initial ones.”
“We should be able to get to them using my laptop as long as the place we go to has internet access. Where do you want to meet?”
“There’s a good place where we can have a lot of privacy on 72nd between Columbus and Amsterdam. It’s called Aroma. They have great wifi connection.”
“See you there in fifteen minutes.”
I disconnected the phone and put my sneakers back on. Before I rushed out of my apartment, I attached my hip holster and stuck my Glock in there. Two minutes later I was exiting my building and jogging toward the casual eatery where I had told Ian to meet me.
As I jogged along the street, the thoughts swirled through my mind. Was Ian telling the truth? I wished there was someone who had overheard them talk that could verify all the stuff he claimed Ariel had told him. I laughed without mirth. Why didn’t I stalk them last night? Now I just had to take Ian’s word for it, as insane as it sounded that she was a spy for Adler and their government cohorts. I couldn’t help but think it was very convenient that the one person besides Ian who knew about the supposed conspiracy died before I could hear it from her myself.
What if Ian himself killed her? Maybe he snapped because she got on his nerves, somehow pushed his buttons… Ariel had a way of pushing people’s buttons.
The very thought of this chilled me all the way into the bones despite that it was seventy degrees out still and I was wearing a big sweater over my tights and top to hide my gun. As much as I didn’t want to believe this, I had to acknowledge that it was still possible considering how intense Ariel could be. More possible than the idea that she was a spy for Adler who had suddenly experienced a change of heart. I didn’t even believe the damn conspiracy existed, so it had to be Ian who killed her.
I turned the corner and spotted Aroma halfway down the block. I slowed my pace to a walk, not eager at all to go in there any longer. Oh, God, I didn’t want him to be a killer. Not now that I had finally begun to trust that he was essentially a good person, albeit an extremely cooky one.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, I made myself keep walking toward the coffee shop. Surely there was another explanation to her death. I shouldn’t immediately jump to the conclusion Ian was a murderer. I had been wrong about him before when I had suspected him, hadn’t I? Someone else could easily have killed her. A girl like Ariel who wasn’t very popular among people in general had surely amassed several enemies over the years. Just in the months I was undercover the first time, I could think of a few. If it came to me that quickly, there must be more people that carried a grudge against her. I nodded to myself, feeling relieved. Yes, it must be someone she had rubbed the wrong way somehow. Bad enough that they wanted to kill her.
I had soon arrived at the coffee shop’s front and spotted Ian seated at one of the tables close to the entrance where no one else sat. His laptop was before him and he was looking down at the screen, fully immersed. I grabbed the doorknob and entered.
Ian looked up as I stood before him. “Hey,” he said, his face a lot paler than normal, which I assumed must be from having been sick. The sight made me calm down further—at least it didn’t appear like he had lied about getting food poisoned.
He tilted his head and scratched his unshaven chin. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re staring at me. Do I have something funny on my face?”
“No, you’re fine.” I walked around the table so I could sit next to him. “Are you able to get to the reports with that computer?”
“Yes, it was surprisingly easy.”
“Okay, that’s good. Anything of interest?”
“Not much. Just the basics—location, time and cause of death and so forth. No suspects as of yet.”
I grimaced. “Figures. Strangulation is still the COD, correct?” I gazed at the screen and read some of the text there. For an initial report, there was lots written.
“Correct. Time of death is between eleven thirty and midnight.”
“When did you guys part again?”
“A little before eleven. We shared a cab to the Upper West Side and she asked for me to drop her off by a Duane Reade so she could buy some stuff before going home.”
“She took a cab with you to the Upper West Side? Wasn’t she found in an alley in midtown? Where exactly did you drop her off?”
“At Columbus Circle.” Ian narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. “Maybe she forgot something at the restaurant and went back down there to pick it up.”
Or maybe you guys never took a cab together, I thought. The only way for me to know that Ian had been in a cab at the time he stated would be if he used a credit card so I could see the charge. I wasn’t about to ask him about that right now though, so instead I said, “That could be. I’m getting a latte and somethi
ng light to eat. What do you want?”
“Just a ginger ale.” Ian patted his stomach. “I’ll be lucky if I can keep that down. My stomach is still not back to normal.”
“Coming right up.”
Almost an hour later we were done discussing the case based on what was in the report and what Ian had to add. When I left Aroma, I was already planning in my head how to further investigate Ariel’s death—on my own.
Chapter 4
I was having a late lunch at La Bonne Soupe the following day to check out the place where Ian and Ariel had eaten. The sooner I could figure out why Ariel had been found strangled and dumped in midtown when, according to Ian, she had taken a cab to the Upper West Side, the better. I would start by visiting the restaurant and talk to the staff there. If I tipped my waitress profusely, she’d hopefully point me in the right direction. The brunette girl with the big nose and lips came up to my table as I was enjoying a very tasty crème brulee.
“How is everything?” she asked and smiled warmly. “Can I get you something else?”
“No, I’m good, thanks so much,” I replied and returned her smile. “May I have the check?”
“Certainly,” she said and left the table.
As I finished my dessert, I took in my surroundings once more. There were few people in the small, cozy eatery, which I was grateful for as it would make my prying easier. My eyes found one of the intriguing paintings on the walls and I was in the midst of admiring the passion the artist was evoking by mixing such bold colors with each other when my waitress returned with a checkbook.
I handed her my credit card that I had already removed from my wallet. A couple of minutes later I was signing the card slip.
“And this is for you,” I said and handed her forty bucks in cash—the same amount as my bill.
She broke into a big grin. “Thanks so much, miss. That’s so generous of you!”
“It’s my pleasure.” I cleared my throat and said in a low voice, “May I ask you a couple of questions?”
